A Stranger at Hogwarts
by holdred
Summary: This is the back story for Helen Anders a character that I will use in several of my future stories.
1. Chapter 1

**A Stranger at Hogwarts**

**By Holdred**

**Chapter 1**

**Early Life**

Helen was meditating after her last encounter. She needed to recover mana and heal. The powers of chaos at times were stronger than she expected. She achieved connection with her node easily, the power slowly poured back into her beaten body. Instead of being at complete peace her mind went back to the stories, she had been told of her youth.

Years ago.

Her family had been flying over the mountains for a special meeting her father had to attend. Her mother tired of being left alone all the time had come along. She brought Helen with her. The next leg of her journey was to have taken them over the mountains from India to China. Helen, only four at the time, remembered hearing a loud bang, and then the plane was falling. She was terribly frightened, and then she hurt a lot when the plane hit the snowy side of a mountain. She vaguely remembered her father crawling to her through the wreckage and putting the amulet about her neck. He pushed her out of the plane along with one of the suitcases. The world went dark.

She recovered and woke ten days later. She remembered waking and feeling the sheets being the softest, that she had ever felt. A little old man was taking care of her, who spoke in a language she didn't understand. The story she was told about it years later was the whole mountainside was engulfed in flame from the fuel in the airplane tanks. The only things untouched by the flame were her father's suitcase and herself. The monks told her that one of their number saw the spirit of the tiger and the spirit of the dragon hovering above the flame as if protecting something.

The next few years were spent growing and learning languages. The monastery she found herself in had no women. She was cared for by an old gardener. The gardener was amazed by how easily she picked up languages. She knew English and Gaelic when she arrived and by the time, she was six she could speak Chinese, Mandarin, Cantonese and Tibetan with fluency. What amazed the gardener even more was that she could also read all of these languages as well.

By the time she was six, she had gotten tired of pulling weeds and planting flowers and vegetables. She wanted to learn with the boys that had been sent here. She saw those practicing martial arts in groups, and it looked like fun. She watched and practiced what she saw in secret until she could make her little body do what she wanted. When the next group of boys showed up, she darkened her hair and skin with walnut oil and dressed like a boy, she entered testing like all the new students. She used the name Zhen Mei, because Mei was the name the old gardener had always called her.

When the week of testing was over and the boys who did not pass had been sent home, the masters had been amazed with the skills she had shown. She was put with an advanced group two years older then the novices. She quickly excelled and was equal to the best of the students. As the weeks past, she began to run low of walnut oil. She started using less and less on her skin so it slowly lightened. The stain left her hair slowly as well until a good length from the root out was easily red. The tutors that saw her daily never noticed the change. One day after the masters had been inspecting the progress of the students she was called before a group of them. She was surprised to see Yun the old gardener seated with the masters.

Master Yi spoke, "Mei or should I say Helen, we are pleased to see your progress. We are not pleased to see you trying to deceive your tutors."

"But master," she spoke humbly, "I only wish to learn. The exercises you teach as well as the ability to find one's center are wonderful and a part of me believes this to be very important to me." While she was speaking the spirit of the tiger and dragon were standing behind her.

The monks excitedly whispered to one another. "Very well Mei you may stay. You may not stay in the cubicles with the other boys. You will stay at Master Yun's cottage as you have for years. He told this council you would surprise us some day. As you know, we do not let women train here. It distracts the boys from concentrating at many times in their life. You will conceal the fact you are a girl from all. When you have mastered all the arts we have to teach, you must return to the outer world and return to your destiny."

The years past quickly, she soaked up knowledge like a sponge. Unknown to the monks, she had someone she could talk they couldn't see. One day while meditating, she concentrated on the medallion her father had given her. A spirit rose out of the medallion. It looked like an angel. "Hello Helen, I am so glad you finally figured out how to summon me. I have been with you since the airplane accident."

"Who are you?" 

"I am a part of your own soul. The part that remembers things that have gone before. The part of you that once awakened lets you touch the power or magic as some call it. You must now learn to control it as well. During the day, you will continue to learn what the brotherhood wishes to teach you. At night, you will learn what I must teach you."

"Won't I be too tired to learn properly?"

"No you won't be too tired. Because of your blood, you actually do not need to sleep as humans do."

"Do you mean I'm not human?" She asked with worry in her voice.

"Your father was a great mage and your mother's mother was an elf. The Fae blood you have is what gifts you with the ability to require little rest."

"You mean magic is real and I can use it? Oh boy."

"Yes magic is real. Yes you will learn to use it, because if you don't learn correctly it will kill you faster than a sword would."

With her enthusiasm undimmed, she read and studied whatever books her avatar brought her. One evening the avatar had her get her father's suitcase. Using the amulet as a key, she could open it. The inside was amazing; it opened several times never seeming to get thinner or loose storage capacity. When it was opened a certain way she could feel something tingling in her bones. As she meditated with the case in node formation she could feel power flowing into her body.

As the time for her final testing approached, she pondered what she had learned. Her kung fu skills in many disciplines were as good as the masters. Her sword fighting technique was excellent. Staff, dagger and club skills were good. She could walk on the most delicate paper and not leave a trace or through leaves without making a sound. She had mastered and copied all the information on the scrolls in the monastery library and stored it in the library she found in her fathers suitcase. Her alertness of her surroundings was good as was her awareness of the magic field.

Her testing day was a day of great ceremony. Over the years, many of the boys who started had washed out. She approached the room of testing in the traditional red garb of testing. Her spirit rose as she passed each test put before her. Her only sadness was that Master Yun whom she had come to love had passed on and was not able to share her success.

Test last challenge involved moving a large iron urn full of coals to the side so she could walk through. This would permanently brand the inside of her forearms with five-inch high representations of a dragon on one side and a tiger on the other. The full urn weighed almost a hundred pounds. She worried about this task for months. She was only 5' 4" and weighed 124 lbs. As she lifted it, white-hot pain shot through her arms. One-step, the pain seemed to fill her whole body. Second step, the pain ripped into her soul. Last step and putting it down, the pain expanded and her soul expanded. With eyes tight shut, she saw the spirit of the tiger and dragon on either side of her avatar touching it. All three spirits grew and glowed bright white. She saw her body also begin to glow a bright white. Then darkness.

She awoke with her arms firmly pressed into the snow bank outside the door. She was allowed back into an outer room of the monastery to change robes into orange the color of the graduated wondering monk. She was given her pack and a staff. She had prepared her pack herself with her father's suitcase that surprisingly folded up small enough to fit and the traditional 3 days of food allowed to get to the nearest village, and one change of clothes.

The five masters met her at the door. "You can work magic. Everyone sensitive to magic in the entire monastery saw your graduation and the touch of the spirits even if they were on the other side with many walls interposing. One word of advice, only use it when no normal people can see or to save your life." With that, they bid her goodbye.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Into the Past Again**

The next morning after sleeping as best she could, she examined her body. It was looking better but there were several horrible dark marks under the skin. She shook her head sadly. She hated what she would have to do next.

She went upstairs and had a huge breakfast to build up some reserves. She checked all the locks again to make sure she would not be disturbed and went back to the basement. She took her sword with her. Placing the sword in a bracket that would hold it upright she called her healing magic. Focusing on the healing symbol on the sword, she forced all the foreign material and shrapnel out of her body. She would have to be more careful because she hated this pain of the material cutting or pushing its way out of her skin.

Once everything was clear, she settled into a healing trance again. Her thoughts again wandering back to her past.

Her trip from the monastery to the village was very cold and even though she had been taught how to ignore such things she choose to use some of her mana to keep herself warm. She was able to get to the first village easily She wandered for several months doing small chores at each place in order to pay for her food.

Suddenly riders came from the north and swarmed the village she was in. She took a blow to the head that made her unconscious. When she woke, she found that she had been stripped and her body abused her petite form was one large bruise from having been beaten and her nether regions felt like they had been ripped apart. The village had been torched and the men killed. The women were missing or dead as were the children. Right then she swore she would get even to all such bruits that abused women and children.

Her magic was unable to heal this much damage, but it had kept her alive. Her mana reserve was drained. She needed to find help. She found her pack under a bush outside the village where she had left it but her precious amulet was gone and she couldn't open it.

Finding some clothes that were only partially burned she managed to cover herself. In a pot that had been partially overturned, she found some rice that was horribly overcooked and cold. Eating this it gave her a little strength. She headed off down the trail to the next village. Part way there she saw a thin column of smoke. As she approached, she found the smoke coming from a forge building next to a very substantial house.

Something made the man working the forge turn. He saw her fall. Drawing his sword from where he kept it by the door, he approached her cautiously. Seeing it was a woman with such fair skin, he assumed she was a kami. He gently turned her over and winced at the extent of her injuries. The fall against some sharp rocks had caused two of her wounds to break open again and she was bleeding.

He gently took her over to his house. Kami or not she was injured and needed help. Wu took her to a pallet he prepared. Next, he got water from the well and warmed the cold water so he could use it to bath her wounds. He got a blanket ready to wrap her in when finished. As he took off her bloody rags, he wept at what he saw. How could anyone do this to another person?

He took a chicken and prepared it. Putting it in a pot to boil he placed it on a hook near the forge fire. He went back to working on a brace for his neighbors plow.

That evening he fed her broth and rice with a little chicken.

Wu showed her the ways of the forge. How to work the metal, how to prepare the coke and charcoal for the fire, how to make a sword that would sing in your hand. The four years Helen was with Wu had seemed to fly by the only drag on her spirit was no ability to work magic. One day Wu took her to a city some distance away and she felt it. One of the roadside shrines had some mana in it. She felt she had to stop and meditate maybe she would have part of her life back.

She fasted and meditated and on the second day, she felt a small flow seep into her body. Her world was alive again! She slowly felt the presence of her amulet in the world. Using half of the mana she had gathered, she formed a small portal and pulled the amulet through. Her life again felt complete.

Wu looked at her with sad eyes. "My beautiful little Kami you must go back to the life you were destined to live. In town we will part."

Helen was crushed. She realized Wu was right but did not know what life would bring.

That night her Avatar came to her and comforted her for the first time in four years.

In the city, Wu took her to a friend of his that was an alchemist, Chen.

Chen needed a helper and Mei looked young and strong. He had needed a housekeeper for a while since he chose not to marry.

Helen stayed with Chen a while learning his art as well as keeping his house. She was amazed he was a real Sorcerer. Even though he could not work raw mana, the things he made were indeed real. After six months working with Chen, she started to show aptitude for working alchemy. He started teaching her many of the rituals they used to accomplish magic without mana. At night, she was again reading and studying anything she could. At the end of three years, she knew it was time to move on.

She headed to the capital of the province on some of the back roads. One morning she saw a man standing by the side of the road.

"Mei, it has been decided that you be contacted."

"What do you mean? How do you know my name? Contacted by whom?"

"Let me tell you a little story, but first a question. Do you deny that the world is filled with many things that most men have no clue exist?"

"I can safely say, yes the world is filled with many things most cannot even guess at."

"Good, now for my story. There was once a little girl that somehow managed to get trained at an all male monastery. This little girl now a young woman, graduated and exited. When she exited the magic field, pulsed and all even slightly in tune felt it. One of my brethren was near enough to get close to the path leading away from there and watched this young woman on the path to the village nearest the monastery."

"Excuse me, but no one was near that path at the time. There were no footprints indicating anyone had been that way for weeks."

"Is this your story? Be patient and listen." She nodded her head and he continued. "My brother watched and saw this young woman had the forces of the weave wrapped around her, warming her. When she fell asleep that night, he managed to get a small twig carved in a special way with just a touch of the weave on it inside her pack. This twig would let anyone familiar with the pattern find the woman again. He left to tell his elder what he had done."

"When he got there, the elders were already in conference. Hearing his news a grand council was summoned. An elder from each of the brotherhoods in the area met. One of the elders had a scroll that was ancient. One section mentioned a prophecy.

'One shall come from afar who shall fight evil near and far. She shall be trained where no woman may be trained. She shall be hurt and lose the weave, but will recover the strand and weave stronger. She shall befriend any who would help her and destroy those that hurt. With her the weave, nature and chaos may work together to overcome the greater evil. Betray her only at your own peril.'

The elders decided to watch you to see if you are the one foretold. Our feathered friends were dispatched to watch you. They saw the attack at the village. They followed you to the smith. One of my brothers was summoned to check to see if you had lost contact with the weave. When it was found that you had a pack of our wolf friends were sent to deal with those bandits. They were slain to the man and several of the wolves were injured. The elders decided it was worth it in case you were the "she" of whom the prophecy spoke. All of my brothers near you felt when you touched the weave. They also felt when you recovered you talisman. Your mind was stronger than before. As you learned to use the weave without using your internal connection your mind and will became stronger again. I was chosen to talk to you because my brethren are not as threatening as others of our kind." He stopped speaking watching her carefully to see if he needed to run.

She pondered the story a moment fingering her amulet and spoke, "You have no need to run from me. You have my word that you are completely safe until our conversation is over. I have several questions I must ask to be clear of the points your story has made."

Looking like he felt only slightly safer he responded, "Ask and if it is allowed I will answer."

"You mentioned the weave many times along with nature and chaos. What do you mean by each of these?"

"Nature and chaos are easiest to start with. Nature is anything our Mother Gaia had created the land, the forest, the animals, and our kind. Anything that reveres nature or the natural order of things is part of nature. Chaos is anything working against nature. Demon, wraiths, the dead that walk and even man's works of cities and mining all these things work against the forces of nature and therefore and part of chaos."

"The weave is harder to explain. It is the tapestry of life. Each of us is a thread in that tapestry. You have the ability to make both large and small changes in that tapestry affecting many others and through strength of will the entire tapestry itself. You carry the essence of change within you; I believe you call it mana."

"You kept saying your brothers do you have that big a family clan or is it something else and how can you command birds and wolves and understand them?" 

"Mei, those are great questions. I will answer them in a moment, but to accept the answers your spirit must be calm. Would you care for tea and to sit a moment in quiet?"

She thought a moment and nodded. Two men dressed as servants brought a tea service forward and the host poured tea. She meditated a moment then went into full trance. While she was in deep trance, she levitated a couple of inches above the ground. Her eyes clouded over a moment then cleared turning momentarily into slits. "Why should I risk my life and sanity to help you and your kind? You have not even shown me your true selves?" She spat.

He simply stood and waved his hand. The two servants stood to either side of him and two ladies came and stood behind the three men. The first man changed from a human through several stages into a fox. The servants changed into a wolf and a crow. The ladies changed into a tiger and a dragon. After a few moments Mei nodded her head she had detected something about these folk now she knew what it was. In her trance, she had seen a glimpse of the bane that would kill them unless she helped.

"Before I agree to help you overcome your bane you must tell me what you think of good and evil."

The tiger lady moved forward. "You will be able to tell through your bond to my ancestor spirit that what I say is what I believe to be true. Actions that bring good things to occur to the most people both normal and supernatural would be good. Those actions that cause bad things to happen to many others would be evil. Just because someone is a child of Gaia, does not mean they are good even though we would tend to trust them. Those belonging to Chaos are not all evil even though we tend to despise them. Good and Evil are determined by the actions of the individual not his membership in a group."

Looking deep within her eyes Mei asked, "Do all your people believe this way?"

She looked down and replied, "No, only the wise and mature. The young and foolish will believe what they wish no matter what they are taught."

Mei stated, "You are worth helping. I need to be near Beijing as soon as possible. It needs to be a place where I can meditate and cast spells where no normal people will see. I need someone to help care for me when I become exhausted and have food available when I am hungry. In turn, I will try to prevent the coming purge from destroying your people. Once the spell is cast, I will have no strength for a while. I will need help escaping this country to America. The purge of whites will give me an excuse to leave. I may need protection. Once the purge starts, your elders need to encourage all not to change if they can help it. The leaders will be predisposed to not believe those stories but it is hard not to believe their own eyes."

Helen created her spell. They had found a major node in an abandoned village on a mountainside near Beijing. With work, several folk of the brotherhoods made the village habitable and brought in food. When everything was ready, Helen cast her spell. The full effect took days to produce. The folk were grateful. They nursed her back to health. Two weeks after the spell was cast she was starting to feel better.

She found a mission run by Americans not far from the mountain. She claimed that her parents had been killed and she wished to go home but she had no papers. The missionaries took pity on her and asked her to stay until travel could be arranged. A few weeks later the red Chinese came and closed the mission and sent all the whites home. She found herself dumped on a boat headed toward San Francisco.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**China Town**

The next morning, she awoke feeling much better. She would need to take stock of her resources and allies. At least one nest of evil was destroyed. She felt the ley lines vibrate slightly as they were still realigning them selves. She had destroyed a facility that was using the power of the web of life to feed a machine to control the minds of the normal people it was focused on. The company had used the scientists they controlled to design other machines they could use to create power for themselves by force instead of working with what the world had to offer. They had succeeded in releasing a demon. That demon was what she had worked so hard these last weeks to destroy.

She looked around her retreat and found many supplies that would need replenished.

That night after a productive day, her avatar took her thoughts into her past again.

On the boat ride from China, she learned to control her appearance. The proximity to that many people for that long allowed her to understand the feel for different body types. She chose to look like a boy for a while. About her own height and weight but look a little older around nineteen.

San Francisco was a crazy town. There were too many people here. Many of them were lost. They had become so tied up grasping for things that they didn't care what happened to the world or anything else. She felt pressed on from all sides.

When she got off the boat, the authorities asked her questions about her family. She kept the answers as straight forward as she could but still kept the form of a boy. She had claimed to have family in North Dakota.

Life was so different here. She wandered over to China Town. One of the temples caught her attention. She went inside to meditate. She got her remaining set of robes from her case and wore them. In the main room, she sat near the back. Suddenly in her meditation, she felt herself in the presence of the strongest node she had ever felt. Mana strongly began to flow into her. Its presence filled her. She felt at peace. When she opened her eyes, she found she was the center of a group of worshipers.

"Oh blessed lady, the light of your transcendence filled us all with peace."

"May the light of peace guard and protect each of you," was her response. As she reached forward to touch the lady's head to complete the blessing, her sleeve pulled back. Most of the people there saw the scar on her forearm. A whispering set up in the temple.

One of the elders approached her, "Are you here to fight evil as the prophecy says?"

'How wide spread is that damn prophecy' she thought to herself. "What evil besets you that you would ask my help?"

"One of the gangs is trying to get supremacy over all Chinatown. The leader is a cruel and vicious man that will kill for no reason and often steals a girl and abuses her just because he can get away with it. The people are too frightened of him to fight back. His gang is large. If he and his lieutenants were removed the gang would be more reasonable."

"Are all of his lieutenants bad?"

"No there is one they call Scarface that actually has a good heart. He would control the gang if the rest were removed."

"I will need the use of a smithy and tools. Iron stock and coal as well. Afterward I may need a place to heal and rest. Are you willing to meet my needs?"

There was a murmured conversation. A different lady turned to her, "My granddaughter was taken. She was raped many times abused and beaten. She is still suffering but she lives. Many do not. My son has a smithy you may use. You may stay in his house. We will all make sure there is food to feed you. You may stay as long as you need."

Helen went with the woman. When her family came to this country the woman's husband insisted that they all take English names. She used the name Sally, her son's name was Bill and the daughters name was Sarah. Bill's wife had died two years ago.

Bill was at his forge when Sally brought Helen. "Mother, who have you brought home now? I have told you I am not seeking a wife."

"Bill be still. This is Helen. She will help all of us with our problems. To do that, she needs to use your forge. She will be here as long as necessary. Where is Sarah?"

"She is still in her room. You know that's where she stays since those bastards …" his voice broke.

Helen spoke with a quiet voice, "Sally will you introduce me to Sarah?"

There was something about her that made it impossible for Sally to say no. She took her inside and introduced her to Sarah. Then because it seemed the right thing to do, she left them alone.

Helen quietly talked to Sarah. She told the parts of her story she could, growing up in China, learning at the temple, helping people and then her own rape. She discussed her healing and learning how to work metal. This whole time, she was slowly using her healing powers to take away Sarah's pain and hurt. By the time, Helen was finished talking and Sarah had told what happened to herself, she was feeling much better. When they left the bedroom to help Sally fix supper she was even smiling some of the time.

Sally took one look at her granddaughter and hugged her. Then she walked up to Helen, "Thank you so much. She hasn't smiled since." She hugged Helen who wasn't expecting it. Then turned to the kitchen and continued working on supper.

Bill came in for supper angry. He was mad at his mother. He was mad at this interloper who was going to take over his business for a while. He was mad at the whole world. About half way through the meal, he realized he had been hearing his daughter's voice. He looked at her sharply a caught a smile as she was talking about something to Sally. He looked again. Yes, his daughter was smiling. He interrupted everyone, "What's going on here?" He demanded.

"Honorable son the monk has healed your daughter."

"What monk? All monks are male."

Helen simply moved her sleeves and showed him her arms. He sat there a moment. Suddenly he moved. Helen prepared herself for defense. She found herself looking at the top of his head as he bowed to her. "All that I have is yours. You have given me my daughter back. If I can help you in any way let me know."

Sarah got up and hugged her father, "Thank you father, I was afraid you would deny the use of your forge to her. She does need to use it to help others."

Over the next three weeks, Helen was able to craft a beautiful dao (Chinese Sword). She started with bar stock. With minor help from her spells, she was able to craft a multifold sword that most smiths would have taken six months to a year to create. She cut the nine symbols into the blade that represented the nine spheres of magic. On the last day, she performed a ritual that converted the iron to a magic metal lighter than steel and harder than diamond while still being flexible.

During the time she was making the sword, the family used their contacts around China Town to find where the gang leaders hung out. She also had them get her a simple white gee.

The day came and she was ready. They drove her to where most of the gang leaders hung out. She cast a shield on herself before getting out of the car. Wearing her sword on her back, she approached the building. The clubhouse looked like a bar from the outside. The second and third stories could easily be rooms for "working" girls. When she entered, she was able to tell who the leaders were from their descriptions and how they acted.

She turned toward the gang leader and said, "Are you the leader of the gang that has the stupidity of calling itself the Red Dragons?"

Immediately the leader jumped up. His honor was soiled. "You bitch. I was going to have fun with you upstairs but after I'm done with you there won't be anything left."

"You aren't man enough to do that and if this is the quality of the helpers you have, you would be better off starting a daycare. All you can handle are little children."

The leader was enraged. He leaped up to attack her, sending the table he was by flying. She stood there waiting for him. As soon as he came within range, she hit him hard in the solar plexus. No one saw the blow delivered. He came stumbling back into his friends. In a loud penetrating voice she asked, "Is there anywhere we can do this right to see if you have any skill, or do you just want to take this outside? I guess you could say I'm calling you out."

Scar stepped up, "There is an unused parking lot behind the building. Be warned that by calling him out, he can use anything he wants except a gun. You can't pull out a weapon until he does."

She didn't trust any of these slimes. She was positive if things looked bad someone would try to shoot her from the building. None of the leaders had any honor.

The leader and his lieutenants lead the way. Helen followed them. After her came the rest of the gang that was in the building. There was a large square painted on the parking lot. The fight started slowly. She used blocks and minor strikes only. The leader was going all out and could hardly ever touch her. After one strike knocked him back, one of his friends jumped in also. She didn't have any more trouble with the two of them than one. The other friends joined except for Scar. Now she was fighting five. She was starting to feel good about her workout when suddenly weapons appeared in their hands. Three were using knives, one using two sai and one nunchucks. They were definitely trying to kill her. She switched to mortal blows. The fight was over in just minutes. Four were dead and one had his hip completely shattered.

She turned to face Scar waiting to see what he would do. He bowed to her as one would bow to a superior. She returned it with very short bow. Addressing the members, she spoke, "We need to have a meeting. Gather all the gang. Be here tomorrow morning at 9:00 or suffer." She pulled Scar aside and asked him to meet her earlier at 8:00.

She went back home. She told the family she was staying with that she had won and she would be changing the direction of the Dragons.

The next morning she met with Scar to make sure she had his backing. Then she addressed the Gang, "Your leaders in ignorance picked the symbol of a red dragon to scare people into leaving them alone. That is not the true purpose of a red dragon it is a western idea. The red dragon is an earth dragon a protector of the people. You gathered together in a gang for your protection, that is a good thing. Your leaders turned that into a way to make them money not to really protect you. They stressed loyalty and leadership not for your benefit but for theirs. I also stress loyalty but for a different purpose. My purpose is to protect the people. Don't your families deserve protection from other gangs? Your businesses deserve to be protected to be able to flourish. You should be able to make honest money and be proud. We should be proud to be dragons. Once the people know we are there to protect them they will be proud to have us work with them."

"Some of you have problems. You have drug addictions or sex addictions. Some of you have no education. Some of you were made whores very young and don't know anything else. If you want help, we will help. Those of you who steal to live, this has to stop. We will protect our people. We will have honor. We want the shop people to trust us to the point they call us if they have a problem. Think of the pride in that, think of the honor. This will not happen overnight but we can do this. We will protect all Chinatown!"

"We will have a new symbol to show we are different. A symbol we can wear anywhere with pride. Scar will you come up here?"

She grabbed a new headband from a box behind her. "Scar do you swear on your honor to protect these people and help lead us in this new endeavor?"

"Yes, I do so swear"

She tied the headband in place. When he turned, everyone could see that it was expensive. It had a dragon in red embroidered on a white field. "My people I give you my second in command. You know him he did not agree with the old leader but chose to stay and help you his people. We are still red dragons but we wear it on a white background to symbolize our purpose of protecting all. May those who hurt our people beware!" With that, she put a headband on herself.

The crowd caught up in the moment started chanting "Dragon". Letting the go for a couple of minutes, she again spoke, "All of you who can honorably swear to protect the dragon and our people see Scar and swear. Those of you that need help with addictions or an education come and see me. Scar and I will be working with some of our people to see if we can find jobs for those of you who want them. Get with Scar in a few days for that information. Any of you who need food or a place to stay come and see us."

Over the weeks that followed, she used her talents to forge a second sword and a supple suit of armor out of the alchemical metal. The weight of the armor was not more than wearing sweat pants and shirt and it breathed very well. She also spent time converting base metal to gold and coal crystallized into diamond, these she sold through her contacts in Chinatown and set up an education fund for the needy of the area.

By the time she had been in San Francisco for a year, the lot of all the Chinese was much better. The red dragons rose to the task. They had to kick some out, but they became known as hard workers for the people. They reveled in the recognition. It would be something they would stay all their lives and be proud of it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Her avatar must be trying to teach her something because after getting up and taking care of things the next morning she fell into trance again.

She left Chinatown after two more years. Scar was appointed leader by a vote of all the clan members. She had used some of the time to set up several bank accounts for her use. They were set up in the name H. J. Anderson. That way it didn't matter if she was looked like a man or woman she could withdraw the funds.

She was now thirty-four but still didn't look older than eighteen. She noticed one of her shortcomings was the lack of firearms skills. She had learned with her time in the monastery that when she sought training that she should learn from the best. She decided to get into the army Special Forces unit.

Enlistment in the army was easy. The Vietnam Conflict was active. Henry Anderson was soon in boot camp.

Henry didn't seem to understand something about boot camp, and that is never draw attention to yourself. On the first day when the drill sergeant made his welcome derogatory remarks, he said, "You guys look like a bunch of pansy picking women. You make me sick. Is there any one of you with the guts to fight me to a fall?"

Henry spoke up, "Sir, I could Sir."

Sergeant Jefferson said, "Son you don't even look eighteen. There is no way you could take me."

"Sir, you asked for someone to spar with. I would be happy to comply. I assume that the sparring rules indicate that I am not supposed to hurt you, is that correct sir?"

Sergeant Jefferson was annoyed. Here was this kid asking to make sure he wasn't supposed to hurt HIM! He motioned Henry out. As they started circling, he noticed He didn't hold his hands up in fists like almost everyone he met but low and open.

The Platoon watched as this kid about 5' 4" circled the platoon sergeant and suddenly they came together and the sergeant went flying. He picked himself up looked at the kid and said, "Good throw kid. You may actually have some skills. That does not mean we will take it easy on you.

Training went on as it does. Most of the platoon thought it was hell. Henry thought it was good exercise. Sergeant Jefferson was always looking for something to punish Henry about but he never had anything. He graduated with the best reviews in his platoon.

Once his one station unit training was over, he went for Special Forces weapon sergeant training. This took forty-two weeks. It was extremely rigorous. He then spent six months on learning a new language. Since languages were so easy for him, he actually learned Spanish and French at the same time. Sniper school was next. This is where something unusual happened.

On the first day of training, he sensed something supernatural near him but could not pinpoint the source because it was different. By the second day of training, he was sure it was coming from one of his fellow students. On the third day one of the other students walked over to the table where Henry was sitting for breakfast and introduced himself as Jonathan Nestor.

"I hope you don't mind me interrupting your breakfast like this but I wanted to let you know that I am no threat to you."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I am talking about the fact you have been touched by the dragon and the tiger my lady mage."

"You just got yourself in a world of hurt unless you explain yourself."

"Is this really the place for that?"

"No one will pay attention to us at all. I could rip your head off while you screamed and they wouldn't notice. I suggest you explain quickly just to make sure I don't want to test the edge on my dagger." With that, she got out her dagger. It was made of the same enchanted material as her sword and had her runes carved on it for spells.

"You could say I am an anomaly. I am a Dhampir. My father was a vampire and my mother was a mortal. My father's sire killed him and my mother when I was six. I have decided to hunt the dead and the forces of chaos to make the world safer for mortals. I contacted you because I could sense you were seeking me and I did not want to chance having you for an enemy."

"That was probably a wise idea. I could sense a feeling of supernatural tinged by chaos and could have tried to eliminate the risk. Some of my friends among the natural folk have told me the dead can never be trusted. To date I have nothing to lead me to believe otherwise."

"May I suggest that you influence the instructors so that when we do sniper spotter pairs that we work together?"

"That may be a good suggestion. We need to go to training. We will talk later."

That evening they met again. "Ok you need to explain to me why I can trust you. Having anyone know about me is dangerous."

"As I see it in my best interest to tell you the truth ma'am I will. I inherited some unusual abilities from my father. I have heightened senses, increased strength, endurance and the ability to see auras. You have a very complicates aura. Right now, I see you are suspicious and sad; it sparkles so you have magic invoked or you are so strong it sparkles all the time. It is also somewhat faded so that tells me you are supernatural yourself. Let's see if I can come to any conclusions. You probably have some form of magic protection up. You look like a guy so that's magic. I know you don't sleep much so you must be part elven. Sad hmm suspicious, ouch, you have decided I may be too much risk. I would really prefer you trust me as opposed to destroy me."

Helen was stunned. Her concentration completely broke. Her magic dropped and she looked like herself again. She moved quickly and her dagger was out and at his throat before he could do more than flinch. "I would not move much. This dagger is enchanted to make supernatural beings take damage from it like mortals do from plane steel. You seem to know about me, far to damn much for me to be comfortable. When we leave this table, either we will be partners or you will have had a heart attack. Do you realize how much magic I will have to use to put things back together?"

"I really am sorry. My energy pool fills differently than yours. My body being alive fills the pool naturally. I assume meditation helps you recover your magic, power, essence, mana or whatever you call it."

"Tell me your story. You don't seem to be any better off than I was."

"The police put me in an orphanage because no one in foster care wanted me. One day I had all I could take and walked out. I was sixteen. Life on the streets in L.A. is no fun. I ended up joining a gang just for protection. I was their muscle. I never did drugs or abused girls unasked but I did beat some people up that I wish I hadn't.

"One night we were chilling and this big fancy black car pulls up. I sensed something bad in the car. I couldn't move. One of the other kids gets up and gets in back of the car. A minute later I could hear screams inside my head like his soul was being ripped apart. Too soon, the screams stopped and a deep laugh rang out. I knew he had his life drained away by a vampire. I swore then to fight them. I had to learn to fight. So here I am. I would almost give my soul for a dagger like yours since I know it can harm them."

Helen took her dagger away from his throat. Concentrated a moment and looked like Henry again. "You know, I actually believe you. Do me a favor. Don't startle me like that again."

John grinned, "You know I bet the two of us can have the best scores that have ever come out of this school, especially now that I have a partner worth something!"

Henry looked around a moment then went over to the rear end of a jeep parked nearby. He picked the back end up off the ground until the tires were waist high. "Just so you don't think you are the only strong one around here. One other thing, I have mastered every form of martial arts that I have been exposed to. Just because I am a girl, it would be unwise to try anything. I can break you in half if I must with or without weapons. If you are worth trusting, I can promise you a dagger like that for yourself."

John grinned at Henry, "Man you got yourself a deal. I hope I am harder to kill than you think I will be. When we get out of the army I hope to talk you into helping me destroy some of the dead that walk."

A couple of hours later one of the corporals from the communications center came and found Henry. "Your scheduled phone call can be taken in your commander's office in a few minutes."

She was now thoroughly confused. No one knew she was here. She went into the office. The phone rang and she picked it up. "Hello"

"Hello Mei, my firm would like the honor of investing for you. We will charge no fees for any of our transactions. The accounts that you have wisely set up with initials have excellent starting balances for the investments. I am related to some of the red furred brethren you met over seas. We watched you in Frisco but you needed no help and as predicted, you helped all you could. We would do this as a way of saying thank you for saving so many of us. If you happen to need more material converted to cash we will do that for you also."

"Let me guess. You are one of the children of Gaia?"

"Yes I have that honor. I personally am from overseas and I enjoy studying the weave of life. One of the members of a different clan is on your base. You have but to go to the PX and you will be contacted."

"From what I understand I have nothing to lose if I let you invest for me. How do we handle the paper work?"

"Your voice authorization is enough. We will start tonight."

Over the rest of the training, John and Henry did very well as a sniper spotter team. They made some of the best scores recorded.

Six years later both John and Henry had made Sergeant First Class by the time they mustered out. Helen was just happy to have been able to influence things so that the two of them never had to go on missions of questionable morality. Also in those six years, whenever she had extra mana she continued to convert coal and base metals.

She woke from her meditation early. She wondered what her avatar had wanted her to see. It had been thirty-seven years since she left the military, fighting evil the whole time. Glancing at the mirror, she still looked like an eighteen year old.

Feeling unsure what would happen next, for the first time in years she packed her fathers suitcase into the pocket storage dimension she had created years ago. She checked her wards they were tight. In fact, there was now nothing left in sight to indicate anyone unusual lived here, a three-bedroom home with a full basement. She went from room to room to try to find what was wrong. Finally, she sat on the couch and looked at her meditation bowl where she kept stones of many shapes and colors. Running the stones through her fingers, she came upon a really nice piece of black quartz. Looking at it closely she marveled at the creators handy work, good points, solid with no flaws, deep rich color. Suddenly her mind screamed. She didn't own a piece of black quartz. It was a trap. In her minds eye, she saw thirteen figures in a circle chanting. At the center of them was a large black stone. She was starting to fade away. Her last sight of this plane was the leader of the coven's surprised face when the stone exploded and killed them all.


End file.
